Mozart's final and fun-filled opera, particularly so in the absence of the recitative elements symptomatic of operatic work of the era was albeit performed in parts, very much in evidence at the Royal Festival Hall last evening when The Mozart Experience of A Night Under The Stars, a charity event in aid of The Passage featured excerpts of Die Zauberflote.

A boy meets girl, girl comes to boy scene when Papagena appears to a forlorn Papageno, the latter having been encouraged by ( an unseen in the performance ) three child spirits to play his magic bells, part of the equipment of a bird catcher, in his moment of despair at presumably having lost his beloved. Thus the happy couple, united at last, stutter in astonishment in this amongst the happiest duets of the operatic repertoire.

And so in the end, a happy conclusion as girl gets boy

The soloists and performers at the musical extravaganza were ably supported by The Orion Orchestra under the direction of Toby Purser

Images from the rehearsal and concert may be found on my site at picture-u.net

The Schola Cantorum of the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School are no strangers to Westminster Cathedral, being on the roster of choirs regularly singing at the Vigil Mass on Saturday evenings as well as on other occasions. Despite the familiarity of the place, these young and capable professionals seen here in rehearsal in the afternoon gave ample indication that their regular tours at home and abroad, attendance at recording studios and opera halls are the result not only of talent but hard work and dedication.

Choral works by Bruckner, Kodaly and Mawby accompanied the St Anne's Mass being the music that is primarily used at the Vigil Mass and were performed with great flair under the direction and steady guidance of Scott Price, who is music director at Cardinal Vaughan.

With memorable performances the order of the evening, it is hardly surprising that visits by the Schola are occasions highly anticipatedby those attending mass at the cathedral.

The rage of the then 90-year old former architect of the papal encyclical of Pope Pius Xl written in 1931 was amply demonstrated albeit with a touch of humour, to the assembled audience at Vaughan House by Fr Patrick Riordan.

So why was von Nell-Breuning transformed into a raging nonagenarian? Well, in 1931 Pope Pius responding to the dangers arising from unrestrained capitalism and totalitarianism under the communist regimes, called with urgency for the reconstruction of a social order based on the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity. von Nell-Breuning was thus venting at the lack of progress by our politicians who he saw as having failed society on all fronts.

Fr Riordan went on the explore the relationship between faith and politics and asked how we should react when faced with choices that contradict the principles of our faith. He drew on the experience of the church in 1937 before the last great war, when Pope Pius XI wrote Mit Brennender Sorge ( with burning concern ) which had to be smuggled into Germany. Its call was heeded by Franz Jägerstätter who in refusing to be called up to fight in a war which was both immoral and unjust in its conduct was executed by the regime.

The meeting concluded with an examination of the role of evangelisation today and considered the challenges faced by Christians as they question the norms of conformity urged by the changing values and judgment of an increasingly secular and at times, unjust world when these are in contrast the teachings of the faith. Being true to theWord of God does also mean that we are not like sheep.

Very appropriately it was Pentecost Sunday, the day when in fulfilling the promise made to his disciples at the last supper, Christ sent them an advocate to build up His church, that Father Jeremy Davies should be speaking at the Tyburn pitch of the Westminster Catholic Evidence Guild. Fr Jeremy in explaining St Paul's letter to the Ephesians, said that the gift of the Holy Spirit was given to build up the church into a community and into holiness, so as to build up each Christian into the image of our Lord Jesus and thus enable the fullness of Christ to dwell fully in every Christian. Therefore as his disciples were, we too are in receipt of this same promise of the Holy Spirit.

Addressing a gathering of the faithful and those seeking to know, Fr Jeremy explained that Christ in bringing us into unity with His body paves the way for all of us to become His visible church. In doing so, Christ brings everyone into unity with God's love by bringing them into union with Himself. The journey to God through the Son is possible since Christ himself is in union with the Father as given in the Gospel by St John.

On that day you will understand that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you

John 14:20

This journey is further aided as promised by Christ, in the coming of the advocate . It is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, the spirit of wisdom and understanding that Luke says which opens the new testament to us. Through His son and by way of the Holy Spirit unlocking all the mysteries and teachings of Christ, Fr Jeremy revealed that God speaks to every human being on this earth.

As Fr Jeremy continued in private discussion with some of the gathered audience, Brother Philip mounted the platform to speak further and take questions from the assembled listeners.

The platform of the Westminster Catholic Evidence Guild at Tyburn bears witness to the message and promises of Christ each Sunday afternoon and is blessed with the presence of Fr Jeremy Davies who journeys down from Luton on the third Sunday of each month.

I call you friends because I have made known to you everything I learnt from my Father

John 15:15

And on each of these days, many friends are gathered to share in the special gifts that call us all to be Christians.

The 2013 series of talks in the summer on matters relating to Catholic moral and social teaching began at Vaughan House on the second Thursday of May with Mary Colwell addressing the audience on a subject close to her heart, the state and future of our planet. Those who follow current debate and discussion on this matter will know that one of Mary's roles is as environmental adviser to the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales. Very appropriate therefore that she should open this series of talks with her topic entitled " Dialogue with the earth ".

Utilising material sourced in her work as a producer on the various media, Mary drew the attention of those present to the pressures on our environment and the resources of the planet brought about by social and economic demands, reflecting on the question posed by the ecological theologian Thomas Berry that mankind had broken it's conversation with the earth.

As nature's resources in both our forests and oceans are plundered, she offered as food for thought what Catholic teaching and beliefs could do in not only giving us a way to consider the crisis placed upon our planet but for the Catholic Church to take a lead in addressing these issues and to help our planet recover not only from the ravages on it's natural wealth but also the drastic changes to our planet's ecosystem.

Last Thursday, in the first of a three-part
series of discussions organised by St Paul’s Institute and sponsored by CCLA,
an ethical fund manager, Archbishop Vincent Nichols placed before
the audience, challenging views for our society and it’s communities, to
consider what sort of City it is that we want that would better serve society. As keynote speaker for the
evening, Archbishop Vincent took a view of the City as a place where people
live and work. Since it is people who make the City, it follows that the City
can therefore be a place of human flourishing. The Archbishop’s talk therefore
was entitled ‘ Good People ’.

Quoting TS Eliot who said ‘ there is
no life that is not in community….. ’ the Archbishop offered that if one were
to take the view of a City as being a community, then we must pursue all that
cultivates community. The ancient Greeks he went on to say,
had a clear view on the purpose of the city, ‘ the polis ’ as they called it which was to
build a good societywhere citizens thrived as members of a virtuous community. In a city since we are all in it
together, the well being and fulfilment of each is in some ways dependent on
others. There are ties of trust and solidarity to be recognised and
developedbetween people and
institutions which in turn create common bonds. These common bonds and shared common interests could result in good. In recent times though, the apparent legitimisation of the pursuit of
self interest which were once believed to result in better outcomes for
all had led to breakdowns such as the financial crisis, prompting searching
questions about inequalities which have been generated by the approach of self-enrichment. Therefore more collective thought was needed about what can
be changed for the good of all. Archbishop Vincent offered as a
key to the answer, the concept of ‘Good people bound by good
purpose’.

Good first had to be defined, itself
not an easy process sincewe no longer share many of the patterns of thought which would help
establish its meaning. Instead of applying the conventional rationale of morality and duty he
felt it would help to understand ‘desire’ as a vital and fundamental driving
force of ethics and goodness. In our quest for relationships of
deep friendship and for our lives to have meaning so as to make a contribution, we
all have in us a desire for ‘good’. The Archbishop said
that respecting others and seeking their good was essential to one’s own
good. Seeking the good and responding to its attractiveness further takes us out
of narrow, self-centered attitudes. It is he suggested the path to true
human flourishing and fulfilment.

However he did recognise that our
desire for the good can easily be distorted through selfishness greed, pride or
lust. It is a struggle between
good and evil that runs in every aspect of our lives. Thus in order to lean to
the good we need tolearn to pursue virtues that become ourmoral agents.
These would help us do that which is right and honourable irrespective of
reward and regardless of what we are obliged to do. The Archbishop then briefly
explored the fundamentals of the virtues ofprudence, justice, courage and
temperance.

Prudence or right
reasoned action was the opposite of rashness and carelessness. Courage ensured firmness and the
readiness to stand by what we believe in times of difficulty while Justice enabled us to give what was due
to others by respecting their rights and fulfilling our duties towards them and
the virtue of Temperance which helps
us moderate our appetites and use of the world’s created goods was the opposite of consumerism and the
uninhibited pursuit of pleasure. These together form essentials of a happy life.

The formation of good people startsin the family
which isthe first school of citizenship. Loving, stable families are the
vital building block of every society. Schools come next and are
important in building character, as are universities and in the context of the
City, the business schools. Whilst we should look to theseinstitutions
of the community to foster virtue and thereby build
character, we should also look to the institutions of commerce to nurture and
strengthen character. Such institutions should have a clear sense of purpose so as tobe
enterprises of ‘good purpose’.

When sight of purpose is lost then
breakdowns of the system occur. Reflecting on the Francis Review into
Staffordshire NHS Trust, Archbishop Vincent quoted the head of the professional
standards authority who spoke of leaders having lost sight of their moral
purpose. They seemed to have forgotten
they exist to do good.Concern for finances had taken priority over care, compassion and
respect leading him to say that “unless you know the purpose for which you are running an
organisation you will never get the ethics right within it”.

That sense of ‘good purpose’ was not
just for the public sector but also for commercial organisations. Mark Carney,
the incoming Governor of the Bank of England spoke of the speaking of
the need for companies to “define clearly the purpose of their
organisations and promote a culture of ethical business”, and, in doing
so, for employees to have “a sense of broader purpose, grounded in strong
connections to their clients and their communities”. It is not simply a focus on profit as
an end in itself but Archbishop Vincent suggested that the true justification
of business was when profit was made while making the world a
better place. Goods and services produced that
truly serve people, create employment, offer fair returns
to investors, while minimising harm. Any business looking to remain true
to that purpose neededpeople with technical skills and competencies as well as the
required character and virtues he outlined earlier. These “ architects of lasting business
success ”in staying true to their virtues would create a
culture within their organisations that actually promotes and strengthens good
practice.

It should be noted that the
exploration of ‘good people bound by good purpose’ comes up against the limits of law and
regulation since these mechanisms are slow to react and new rules usually deal with
the last problem not the next one. Furthermore a compliance
mentality creates perverse incentives while increasing bureaucracy. Rules
become a lazy proxy for morality and people think that if what they do is not
against a rule, it must be in order. Such a society he counselled, would become inherently
fragile. What is required the Archbishop believed was a fundamental transformation of
purpose, so that business, and the financial sector is seen by everyone as it
should be - at the service of society. Reform though must be credible
or as John Kay, an economic commentator says, it will take another financial
crisis before the City really wakes up to the scale of reform that is needed.

Archbishop Vincent though is firm
in his belief that there is great potential for good in people which far too
many employers do not release or encourage because of the primary aim to
maximise short term profit. In mitigation, companies tended to justify
themselves through additional programmes of social benefit or philanthropy but as the Archbishop insisted, these acts of benevolence should be
supplementary to the shared value created by the core work of the business
activity. Rather than react to laws and guidelines or engage in these programs, it was far more important for business to have a clear purpose to serve society. To this end, the quality of leadership is critical since all the good influences that support the way for a
better society is hugely influenced by these choices made by leaders. The
Archbishop drew on Paul Polman’s remarks asCEO of Unilever when hereminded the assembled guests at the launch
conference of the Blueprint for Better Business last September that in the long
term no business can succeed in a society that fails.

The Christian instinct Archbishop Vincent affirmed, sees the potential for good in a city and gave us all food for thought in
noting that the Bible started in a garden and ended in a city. He then drew
our attention to the setting of the evening’s lecture that the beauty that is
St Paul’s Cathedral invited those of us present to gaze upwards and place our
hopes and fears in the context of the Eternal. It also perhaps afforded us recognition
of our frailty, our need of one another and our shared destiny. In
closing, Archbishop Vincent left us with his impression that humanity had
a most extraordinary capacity for good and that hedeeply
believed that there are many untapped
ways by which we could organise the world of work in service of the common
good.There then followed a discussion with the panel consisting of Baroness Helena Kennedy, Tracey McDermott of the FSA, Peter Selby who is the director of St Paul's Institute. Proceedings were under the chair and direction of Stephanie Flanders, the economics editor of the BBC. Questions were put to Archbishop Vincent from both the panel and audience. Archbishop Vincent's responses in the video are well worth noting.

A big welcome to my chill-out zone, where I talk about my enjoyment of photography, my thoughts and discoveries, my loves and view of life as I embark on my new career. I had been taking pictures for fun since my days at school. My idea of fun is people and the stories they tell. So most of my pictures are about people. It's my way of telling a story. The story about the people whose pictures I take, what they do and latterly, pictures of their pets too, which is also great fun.